There's no Madea here. But the women are beautiful, serious about clothes, makeup, hair and church.

Older women typically get the funny, sometimes profane, always "you-listen-to-me-child" lines. The men are shirtless, rapacious heels, or sensitive pretty-boy disappointments. That doesn't matter, as these movies are first and foremost "chick flicks" — sermonettes about relationships, deserving more and eventually getting it.

The women, I mean.

But "Temptation" is a cautionary tale about wanting what you haven't got. Marriage counselor Judith (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) at the heart of it is young, gorgeous, in a glamorous job with a high-end D.C. dating service. She married her childhood sweetheart (Lance Gross), who is a serious stiff, looking at goals 10 to 15 years down the road.

And the Internet tycoon who may invest in the marriage counselor's business? He (Robbie Jones) has money, confidence and "unsafe sex" written all over him. Meanwhile, the husband might be tempted by a secretive and cowering new cashier (Brandy Norwood) at his pharmacy,

Ella Joyce, as Judith's preacher-mother, and has the "Madea" role: sassy, testy and all-wise.

Perry clumsily frames this story as a tale a counselor (Candice Coke) tells a young woman who's thinking of cheating on her husband. The timing of the comic moments is off, and the film drags and drags before reaching a conclusion that's visible from a mile off.

The quartet of leads is blander than bland. The "Temptation" of the title is a come-on and a false promise. How "tempting" can a movie about cheating be if it has a PG-13 rating?

Casting Norwood, a vapid Kim Kardashian as a shallow, judgmental colleague in the dating service and Vanessa Williams as the boss of that service suggests that Perry is drawn to women who have been media (and man) victims from time to time.

But the filmmaker has points to make, about wealth and the allure of the new:

"There's nothing wrong with being rich and having nice things — so long as the nice things don't own you."

"We become a lot of different people before we settle into who we are."

With homilies like that, I expected Perry to get into the talk show/advice game, until Steve Harvey leaped at that. But cranking out two formulaic movies such as this one per year shows the Atlanta mogul's true ambition — replacing all those canceled TV soap operas, two hours at a time.